NBA’s biggest winners, losers and overreactions from Week 1, starring the Lakers and 76ers

The first week of the NBA season is in the books. Who won the week? What are we overreacting to? Our writers break down the best and the worst of the season so far.

1. Name a big winner from the first week of the season.

Vincent Goodwill: The Oklahoma City Thunder (beating teams by nearly 20 points a night). They are looking to break the trend of a new team at the top of the West every year. Granted, the schedule hasn’t been tough, but 3-0 is 3-0, including that demolition of the Denver Nuggets in Denver. It looked like JV against the varsity team, especially now that Chet Holmgren (23.7 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks!) appears to be in full bloom. The Thunder look like the best defense in the league, and this is without Isaiah Hartenstein. We have a problem here, folks.

Kevin O’Connor: JJ Redick. The Lakers are 3-0 and look like a night and day difference compared to last season. The offense is playing with so much more motion, and has different layers to their actions. And Anthony Davis has been unlocked: AD is averaging 34 points while racking up 11 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.7 steals. The team has quite a similar roster but has a brand new process and dramatically better results. Redick is the difference.

Dan Devine: Ivica Zubac. A Clippers team that’s going to be without Kawhi Leonard for the foreseeable future needs somebody besides James Harden and the always-ready-to-fire Norman Powell to pick up more offensive slack. Through three games, Zubac has been the biggest beneficiary of the redistribution, averaging 5.6 more field-goal attempts per 36 minutes than he did last season, posting by far the highest usage rate of his career, sitting second in the entire NBA in frontcourt touches, post-ups and points in the paint per game, and leading the league by a mile in touches at the elbow and in the paint.

Zu’s making something out of all those extra opportunities, too, scoring 22.7 points per game — nearly double last season’s mark — on 59.2% shooting to go with a league-leading 14 rebounds and 4.3 assists while serving as the back-line eraser on a Clipper defense that ranks fourth in…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-28 15:48:00

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